The proposed research is designed to test theory and results from laboratory crowding research by field studies of social interaction in city, suburb, and small town. Laboratory experiments indicate that people overloaded with interpersonal contacts will adopt strategies to reduce the number, duration, and intensity of these contacts. Two studies by the principal investigator indicate that city people are not overloaded with friends and acquaintances, but are overloaded with contacts with strangers. This interpersonal overload hypothesis will be investigated by studies in which people from city, suburb, and small town are observed in social interaction, queried about their acquaintance networks, and tested for openness to communication with strangers. The proposed studies will begin to fill a surprising gap in knowledge of social behavior in natural settings.